How To Choose A Brand Name

Most professional services providers like to choose a brand name that explains what they do.

But it really isn't necessary, or even a good idea to be so self explanatory.

Much as you might think it's necessary to describe what you do, you can choose a brand using a powerful science that engages more emotionally with your prospect's brain.

It's called Neuro-branding, and is the understanding of how the brain 'sees' brands.

Using Neuro-branding to create your brand name gives you a totally unique brand that actually means something.

The reason you might think the idea of a descriptive brand name is best, is your own innate desire to explain what you do.

It's only human nature to want to be understood and as a coach, mentor, trainer or consultant and you also probably want to stand out from the competition.

It’s also untrue that your brand name needs to be descriptive in order to be SEO friendly.

All the web developers and SEO experts I’ve talked to agree it’s more important to be consistent with keywords and focused quality content, than to have a brand name that includes a specific word.

That is, of course, unless your business is a Boston Bakery or Plimmerton Plumber.

For professional services providers, who struggle with brand names because they are selling the invisible, it's so much more important to stand out because of your story, than your location.

Some take the easy way out and name their business with their own name.

But that's even more risky and not a clever way to create an asset or a meaningful brand. 
You can read more about why using your name for your brand is not a good idea here.

In reality, there are only three categories of brand name to choose from, and only one of them is a descriptive name, so that makes it easier for you.

Created, abstract or descriptive.

1) CREATED

Created brand names include;

You can certainly create a brand using your name like Adolf Dassler did, or play around with the spelling of a word - like cloud business Xero, to come up with something iconic and unique - this helps with domain name, business name registration and trademarking too.

Some of the brand name case studies we've helped create using this category which have brilliant brand stories:

2) ABSTRACT

Abstract brand names include;

These incredibly well known brands in this category such as Virgin, are easy to identify because they are simple, short, catchy and easy to pronounce so the brain loves them even though they theoretically used out of context.

Play around with ancient languages or Greek mythology like Nike - the goddess of victory, to find a name that tells your brand story and create emotion.

Some of the abstract brand case studies from those we've helped include:

3) DESCRIPTIVE

Descriptive brand names include;

There is not much to explain with brands in this category, which is why they have far less meaning in terms of Neurobranding, or getting an emotional message to engage the human brain.

Some of the descriptive brands we've helped create include:

4. What To Avoid

Oh and by the way, you should avoid using an acronym for your brand name too…

What’s wrong with using letters given IBM, ANZ, UPS and a host of others brands do exactly that?

Remember what I said about the importance of generating an emotion with your brand?

How can three letters of a brand name generate any sort of emotion? IBM and ANZ at least use blue in their branding to create a feeling of safety and reassurance. UPS is brown and gold, indicating down-to-earth but quality service.

The brain doesn’t think in words, it thinks in pictures and it’s just too difficult to instantly convey a brand essence with an acronym, especially when you are starting out in business, so avoid it if you can.

The most important factor in choosing a brand name is to create meaning. For you, your ideal client and for their brain.